Manila councilors join clamor against mining in Palawan

The Manila city council has passed a resolution urging city residents to join a campaign to collect the signatures of 10 million people opposed to mining in Palawan, a move initiated by the multisectoral environmental coalition Save Palawan Movement.

In a resolution passed last week by the city council, Manilans were urged to join a campaign to collect the signatures of 10 million people opposed to mining in Palawan, a move initiated by the multisectoral environmental coalition Save Palawan Movement.

“There is a need to bring the Palawan situation to the fore of national consciousness. Manila, as the country’s premier city, should take immediate action,” the resolution, passed last week, stated.

The councilors who sponsored the resolution—DJ Bagatsing, Numero Lim and Sangguniang Kabataan representative Eunice Ann Denice Castro—said thatmining activities in the province, which have “an adverse effect on the environment,” contradicted Republic Act 7611, or the Strategic Environment Plan for Palawan Act, which upholds the preservation of natural resources and indigenous communities.

Bagatsing said the resolution came about as Manila councilors heeded Sen. Edgardo Angara’s call for local and national legislators “to pass greener or more environmental laws.”

“We have destroyed much of our environment and thus, we have failed our duties as caretakers of our own resources. But we can start making our mistakes right by supporting the drive against mining in Palawan,” Councilor Lim told reporters in an interview.

In the signature campaign website no2mininginpalawan.com, the Save the Palawan Movement calls the province “the Philippines’ last ecological frontier,” noting that Palawan holds “40 percent of the [country’s] remaining mangrove areas, 30 percent of our coral reefs, at least 17 key biodiversity areas, two UNESCO World Heritage sites and eight declared protected areas.”

The coalition began the signature campaign on February 3, after the killing of local journalist and anti-mining advocate Gerardo “Doc Gerry” Ortega.

Those who want to join the signature campaign can access the website, where they can download the signature sheet, fill it up and e-mail it back.